Page 28 of Heart Strings
“Headed to yoga?” she asks.
“I’ll give it a lash.”
We exit the impressively carved double doors at the front of the castle and enter the manicured garden. Lush dahlias dot the path to the falconry buildings, but Lo isn’t much for a relaxed stroll to appreciate them. Wherever her destination, she travels with intention. She’s speed-walking, her jumpsuit swishing and hips swaying with each step.
I match her pace.
You’re not getting rid of me that easily,my raised brow says when she casts a furtive glance my way.
We’re nearly nose to nose when she barrels ahead. I catch up. The corner of Lo’s mouth ticks up in a competitive little smirk and her breath quickens from the mild exertion. Mine, too. We’re almost to the arched stone bridge over the creek to the aviary when a shadow passes overhead.
A raven squawks loudly as it circles us, then dives so close that I can feel the rush of wind.
We turn to each other, still locked in a ridiculous speed-walking race. Confusion on her face shifts to alarm when the bird comes back for more, dipping low and circling as we approach the edge of the bridge.
“Fuck me!” I duck before it nearly scalps me. We need to get indoors, now.
“It’s like a feathered Liam Neeson!” Lo covers her head whenthe raven picks up speed and whooshes close. It passes her and sets its sights on me.
Talons drag across my scalp when it returns. Not forceful enough to draw blood—yet.
Lo goes to shoo it off, but she could be next. I shield her with my arms. She pushes me away, amused at my misguided chivalry. “Run! It’s you she wants!”
For a moment, it’s almost flirtatious. Or at least, it would be if there wasn’t a murderous bird attacking us. “Go!” she says and laughs, shoving her palm into my chest. I’m thrown off-balance by that laugh, by the sparkle in her hazel eyes. Knocked completely off-kilter, I rock back on my heels, and my stomach bottoms out as I realize I’m falling.
It happens fast, before I can even shout. And then I’m submerged. It’s shallow, perhaps five feet deep, so my arse hits the river stones. I break the surface and gasp in shock.
“Aidan!” Lo sprints from the bridge to the creek’s edge, crunching reeds along the muddy bank. “Are you okay?”
I stand in chest-deep water. Rivulets stream from my soggy hair. “Did you see that? An unhinged harpy just tried to drown me.”
“I took a Hippocratic oath. I was just trying to get you away from that raven. I didn’t mean to actually push you off the bridge.” Now she’s in up to her ankles, sandals coated in mud. That woman neurotically cares about her shoes. Maybe she cares about me, too. “I mean…have I thought about it? Maybe.”
“Were you worried about me?” I trudge back to the creek edge in waterlogged clothing, failing to suppress a delighted grin.
“Worried I’d have to haul you out of the water to administer CPR.”
“Don’t act like a little mouth-to-mouth would be such an imposition.”
Cielo’s teeth press into her juicy bottom lip, and the energy shifts between us when I realize it’s because her gaze is fixed to the wet shirt plastered across my chest that’s become all but transparent. I attempt a seductive swagger back to the grass, but the marshy surface pulls me down. As Lo reaches out to help me out of the mud, I consider pulling her into the water, just to hear her squeal in protest and have an excuse to hold her tight to my body—but we’re not there yet. Maybe not ever again.
From a nearby tree branch, the raven caws another warning before flying off in search of its next victim. Cielo shakes her head.
“What did it want? We haven’t got any food,” I say.
“It thinks we’re about to send a falcon out to hunt. The guide earlier said some of the other birds in the area get territorial.”
Plodding awkwardly up the bank, I try to recover some semblance of the effortlessly cool musician I’m supposed to be. Mud squelches in my shoes. I smooth a hand over my heavy trousers to wick some of it away. When my palms skim over empty pockets, my stomach drops.
The ring box Callum had entrusted to me is gone.
“No, no, no, no…” I pat the pockets again in hopes that it will magically materialize.
“What?” Lo asks.
“The ring! Callum gave it to me for safekeeping.”
“You lost it?”
